Driving lights mounted on forks?

Hi All. I keep dreaming of having driving lights that point where I'm turning so that I can see better around turns. It appears that the only way to do this would be to mount them on the lower part of the forks. Has anyone done this? Would it shake them to pieces? Thanks!

Here Ya Go.
http://www.motolight.com/
Check my album linked in my sig below and you will see them on my Silverwing.

When you go around a corner...do you turn...or lean?

Chris

Dan,
Thanks for the great information! Very helpful! BTW, I am inspired by several of the mods you did - especially the cruiseboards.

Chris,
You very tactfully made a good point, and one I should have thought about. I was thinking car instead of motorcycle. :$ A car "turns", but a motorcycle "leans". The front forks will basically face into the outside of the turn doing me no good at all. Alas, the end of my dream. I will just base my mounting choices on getting the best projection down the road, and having the most noticable visibility by other drivers. Thanks!

Best to both,
Craig

You could always buy a BMW K1600GT, the hi-tech headlamp turns with the forks and remains horizontal as the bike leans. It will cost you however, about £18,000 over here in the UK ! They are also bringing out a maxi-scoot with rear view cameras instead of mirrors (no doubt also at a price !!)

Thanks for the thought BB. I'll talk with my wife about putting it in our budget.

Craig, I understand totally where you are coming from. I ride year around here in the Seattle area. That means I'm riding in rain quite often and commuting in the dark. While the freeways are fairly well lit, there are stretches that are totally black. There is something about the pavement that when it gets wet, just totally sucks up the light that hits it.

So for the past several years, I've been looking at every available way to add lights to my scooter. There's pluses and minuses of adding light in each location. Cost has been a factor too.

I tried HIDs for awhile, but I noticed two things about them. One is that unless you use projector lenses with them, you will produce a lot of glare to oncoming drivers. Two, the car HID lights do put out a lot of light on the road. But the net effect of that can be the illusion of seeing better. They put a lot of light out on the road immediately in front of you, closing your iris (or is it pupil?) down...and make the area just past the light beam pattern more dark than it would seem with a normal halogen light. Or at least that's my theory.

If you keep looking, you will stumble upon something that will work for you.

For what you're looking for, a fog light mounted low might do the trick. The cutoff to the beam pattern is pretty sharp and they put out a light pattern that is wide...which would light up your turn.

Chris

You are right on target Chris. I also commute year-around here in the SF bay area, which also means dark and rain during a few months of the year. The effect you described for fog lights sounds the best to me. More side lighting, but not blinding oncoming drivers. Did you go with this approach? What kind of lights did you use? What kind and how many watts for the bulbs? Thanks!

Have you guys considered a helmet mounted light? Mountain bikers that ride at night have two solutions - handlebar or helmet. I have both, and prefer the helmet light because you can see around corners by turning your head. The lights are battery operated and fairly bright, but nowhere near the brightness of the Swing headlight. But, it would be better than no light at all.

I also like lights.

I first replaced my head lights with H-7 intense white Piaa bulbs. Easy to do from underneath and made a BIG difference at night.

Next I had made a light bar like the ones sold by Denis here on the forum. (word of advice) just buy it from him, you will save time and money and on the bar and installed from JC Whitney item # H5788183 round projector lens fog light set for about $65.00 that have a carbon-fiber housing and electron blue lens. (word of caution) My shop charged me $180.00 for the electrical work and I brought back once because of problems installing them onto my headlight modulator (www.highgearhobbies.com that really catches the attention of all drivers.

Then I installed on the forks from www.martinfabrication@yahoo.com light mounts for Piaa 1100x I think I paid about $40.00 and on the mounts installed OBX Turismo fog/spot lamps. Those were $80.00 and $80.00 labor.

Then so you could see me from the side I installed wheel strips (reflective white strips ) that are easy to apply and go on the front and rear wheels.

From Graphic language.com

Will some one please stop me. Ha ha

x

Hi John,
Stop you? I'll probably encourage you!

Where did you get the OBX Turismo lights? Thanks!

P.S. I think the URL is supposed to be "www.martinfabrication.com" (without the "@yahoo").

Hi John,
I was just looking at the Martin Fabrication website, and I'm a little confused. You said you purchased "light mounts for Piaa 1100x I think I paid about $40.00". I don't see any separate light mounts available on their site - only the full kit with the lights. The H3 kit costs $134.95, and the HID kit costs $349.00. Can you please direct me to where the light mounts are described and priced?

Also still my question from my last post - where did you get the OBX Turismo lights? Thanks for your help!

bigbird wrote:

Either you have small hands and fingers, or there's a trick you need to share. I tried to change my bulbs recently, but gave up. My hands/fingers just did not have enough room, and it seemed like it would be a "blind" job to attach the hold down tabs on the bulbs. Add to the fact that I also have a modulator module and 2 harnesses in there and it's a real bird's nest. Any tips?

When you replace your headlight bulb pay attention to the notch in the upper left of the bulb hole in the reflector when you release the tension from the spring clip. This notch is a window to the catch that the clip rests in. When you install the new bulb it will make latching the spring clip a tad easier.